In this context, known motorization components provide scalable or variable motorization torque, which causes over-motorization and impacts on full deployment.
These impacts may be significant and cause damage to the spatial appendices on full deployment, as well as parasitic torque harmful to the piloting of the spacecraft. To mitigate this problem, deployable structures are dimensioned and reinforced to make them resistant to end-of-travel impacts caused during deployment thereof, but this solution is unsatisfactory and notably increases the overall weight of the structure.
Specific advancements have resulted in the development of deployment mechanisms having near-zero resistive torque. Such mechanisms, such as the hinge line described in patent application FR 2635077, have the advantage of requiring limited motorization power and minimising end-of-travel impacts. Other mechanisms have been developed by improving the aforementioned mechanism, notably in terms of mass and volume. Such a deployment mechanism is disclosed in patent application FR 0605653.
These hinge mechanisms, for the deployment of spatial appendices, nonetheless have different drawbacks that have not been addressed in the prior art.
First of all, the known mechanisms, such as those described in patent applications FR 2635077 and FR 0605653, have a maximum angular deployment capacity of 180°. Furthermore, the overall kinetics thereof generate very irregular motorization torque, on account of the structure thereof. Finally, the deployment speed of known deployment mechanisms, as already mentioned, involves an end-of-travel energy release, and therefore an impact, because said deployment speed is not regulated.